British Gas customers who have smart meters installed are being offered free electricity during weekends.

The new plan called ‘FreeTime’ offers them free power between 9am and 5pm on Saturday or Sunday, which it claims will save consumers £60 a year on their bills.

Smart meters replace standard gas and electricity meters and an in-house display is provided to customers which shows them how much energy they are using and what they are spending.

The data is provided automatically to suppliers, putting an end to estimated bills and meter readings.

British Gas has so far installed more than 2.4 million smart meters in homes across the country.

The new tariff is fixed until March 2018 and will be the cheapest dual fuel deal currently offered by the Big Six supplier.

Sarwjit Sambhi, Managing Director of UK Home at British Gas said: “FreeTime is an industry first and will give our customers greater control of their energy use. British Gas is leading the nationwide roll-out of smart meters and now we’re the first to launch a smart plan that offers free electricity at weekends.

“This will be the first of many smart meter innovations from British Gas which will also contribute to managing the country’s demand for power from the national grid.”